General Gaming Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree - Information Thread, update (06/21): Fextralife guides posted

[eventide11]

13 minutes ago, Best said:

 

See that just completely deflates any confidence I was trying to gather in playing this. I'm only a level 88 so I'd have numerous hours of grinding and I'd still wouldn't be successful. I was incredibly stupid for buying the dlc. 

Not necessarily. See my post response to Biggie

[Moa]

3 minutes ago, eventide11 said:

Well to be fair your 'soul level' doesn't matter as much in the DLC. That was Froms way of making it accessible to more people. It relies on Scadutree Fragments to give higher offensive and defensive stats. But I get it man, it's not for everybody

 

I don't know exactly how it works but apparently things in the DLC scale to level and the fragments are your real 'level' in the DLC world.

[Best]

3 minutes ago, eventide11 said:

Well to be fair your 'soul level' doesn't matter as much in the DLC. That was Froms way of making it accessible to more people. It relies on Scadutree Fragments to give higher offensive and defensive stats. But I get it man, it's not for everybody

 

Thanks for clearing up how the leveling works but I'm still a LONG way off to getting to the dlc. 

[Bacon]

Second boss down. Lots of people talking about how hard she was and I killed her 5th try no mimic. Like, people act like her attacks were so hard to dodge but they weren't. You can actually just tank that boss's shit with a great shield lol. While I didn't beat the boss this way, I got the boss to 10% twice by using a spear and holding block and chugging heals when enough magic damage got thru. But I beat her with the dual swords in the end. I have the 5th level of the blessing too.

[eventide11]

1 minute ago, Best said:

 

Thanks for clearing up how the leveling works but I'm still a LONG way off to getting to the dlc. 

I hear ya. Your level does matter but not as much in the DLC from what I understand. Its more of Froms obscure and vague way of handling just about everything. Ive always enjoyed that about their games myself but I know in this day and age lots of people don't want that

[Mercury33]

First main boss and dungeon done. Loved it. Felt more Dark Soulsy in design to me. The way it was a little more linear, looped around had a few “ohhh cool that’s where i am now!?” Short cut openings. 
 

Boss itself was def on the tougher side. I had more trouble with him than Mohg or The Black Blade. 10 tries I think?

 

Im very much enjoying the NPCs so far. They’re around more and their stories feel a little more straightforward (same can be said for the whole DLC so far). 
 

Level 163

+3 Myself

+4 Ashes

 

For anyone that got the Cross Map. Am I missing something? It says it’s supposed to show Cross locations but I don’t see any on the map. 

[TheLeon]

2 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

 

For anyone that got the Cross Map. Am I missing something? It says it’s supposed to show Cross locations but I don’t see any on the map. 

It’s a small, crude map in your inventory. It doesn’t add anything to your actual map as far as I know. 

[Mercury33]

27 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

It’s a small, crude map in your inventory. It doesn’t add anything to your actual map as far as I know. 

Ohhhhh gotcha. I did notice they were on the actual item but super hard to see. Cool thanks. 

[Mercury33]

Just wiped the floor with some golem looking bastard in a very cool cave. 

[Bacon]

My streamer of choice, MOONMOON, just beat the first boss of the DLC at Rune/Soul Level 1 after dying 764 times just to that boss. He is also not using the DLC fragments to boost his stats.

MOONMOON - After nearly 800 deaths

CLIPS.TWITCH.TV

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Watch MOONMOON's clip titled "After nearly 800 deaths"

 

[Moa]

These guys don't know they're trifling with the Elden Lord.

[cusideabelincoln]

I think I've explored about half the map, maybe more, and I think I can safely say the level design of both the overworld and the dungeons is absolutely amazing. It's a perfect blend of open world and Metroidvania exploration - even the open world has that Metroidvania inspiration as there are multiple ways to find hidden secrets. This is the base game perfected. Everything is denser and feels more varied, and there is not as much filler as there was in the base game - where they had the same type of dead-end dungeons repeated over and over again along with several repeat bosses.  NPCs are also improved; they overall have more personality than the ones in the base game IMO.

 

Honestly if people are able to, they should just speedrun their character into the DLC and just play it to get Elden Ring experience.

[Mercury33]

1 hour ago, cusideabelincoln said:

I think I've explored about half the map, maybe more, and I think I can safely say the level design of both the overworld and the dungeons is absolutely amazing. It's a perfect blend of open world and Metroidvania exploration - even the open world has that Metroidvania inspiration as there are multiple ways to find hidden secrets. This is the base game perfected. Everything is denser and feels more varied, and there is not as much filler as there was in the base game - where they had the same type of dead-end dungeons repeated over and over again along with several repeat bosses.  NPCs are also improved; they overall have more personality than the ones in the base game IMO.

 

Honestly if people are able to, they should just speedrun their character into the DLC and just play it to get Elden Ring experience.

Agree 100%. To me this feels the most like Dark Souls 1 level design since that game came out. 

Edit:

Oh wow case in point.  Just found my second “mini dungeon” in the base game those are always the variation on the underground tomb or the tunnel/mine. With the same objective and same ending. These two dungeons were not only drastically different in style and length. But also how you completed them. So great!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Another day, more Fextralife guides.

 

Location guides:

 

 

 

 

Boss guides:

Spoiler

 

 

From Italian Spartacus:

 

[Best]

I just loaded up my game and I had absolutely NO IDEA where to go or what was my last site of grace. There are a few pointing in certain locations but I've been there and died. So I'm officially giving up on this. 

 

Those that are enjoying more power to you because it looks awesome. 

[skillzdadirecta]

I'm back on track I think and should be pretty close to the end. Now I just need to get a feel for the gameplay again. Also, this

 

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree currently has a 'Mixed' status on Steam, with many of the negative reviews complaining that the bosses are too hard | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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Some of them are also down on the game's PC performance, which is fair.

 

[Keyser_Soze]

I like that it's harder because the base game was super easy. And wasn't that the main complaint all along? Time to start ignoring the internet again.

[Best]

Just now, Keyser_Soze said:

I like that it's harder because the base game was super easy. And wasn't that the main complaint all along? Time to start ignoring the internet again.

 

It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination. The internet lies. If it was easy to you, then you are absolutely an above average gamer. Simple as that. 

[Mercury33]

11 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I like that it's harder because the base game was super easy. And wasn't that the main complaint all along? Time to start ignoring the internet again.

I’ve told some friends that asked about it. Don’t think you’re getting Elden Ring v1.5 Think more like you’re getting Dark Souls 4. It’s much closer to a DS in level design and difficulty(shitty DS2 excluded) than the base Elden Ring. 

[skillzdadirecta]

2 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

Think more like you’re getting Dark Souls 4.

This is the best selling point I've heard for the game so far.

[Biggie]

46 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I like that it's harder because the base game was super easy. And wasn't that the main complaint all along? Time to start ignoring the internet again.

Bruh I watched Max play some this morning and he fought this boss so many times. 

[Keyser_Soze]

7 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Bruh I watched Max play some this morning and he fought this boss so many times. 

 

I haven't been watching and have never seen him play Elden Ring actually because I always wanted to experience it myself.

 

That being said he loves to make things harder for himself and bang his head on a boss for hours. I mean he does have plenty of "boss rage" videos on his channel for a reason.

[Biggie]

4 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I haven't been watching and have never seen him play Elden Ring actually because I always wanted to experience it myself.

 

That being said he loves to make things harder for himself and bang his head on a boss for hours. I mean he does have plenty of "boss rage" videos on his channel for a reason.

Yeah I don’t understand why some gamers don’t want to use summons or ashes to defeat crazy difficult bosses. The stuff is available in the game to use for a reason. No shame in using it. 

[Bacon]

I don't think the DLC is at all harder unless you are ignoring the Scatree upgrades. Except for the first boss, I've done everything solo. I don't know who is at fault, but the upgrades were being tossed out as the "non-hardcore experience" or "easy mode and you shouldn't use them if you want the real experience" and that has really hurt the perception of the DLC IMO.

 

Not using them is no different than not leveling up, or not upgrading your estsus. If you are already playing a leveled character and have upgraded flasks, you should be using the tree fragments.

[Bacon]

Also, the performance is a total ass on my end. Main game ran 45-60fps pretty much at all times. Now, I am getting sub-30 drops and major slowdown in almost every location that isn't a cave. Not sure what changed but it's not good.

[BloodyHell]

18 hours ago, Moa said:

 

I don't know exactly how it works but apparently things in the DLC scale to level and the fragments are your real 'level' in the DLC world.

This is correct, but so far, even with Skadutree blessings, this is the hardest FromSoft content that isn’t in Sekiro (Sekiro was the game I had the hardest time with by far). 
 

The Divine Beast is the first boss, and I found it way harder than anything that was pre-endgame. I was Blessing lvl 5, and he pushed my shit into me for 3-4 hours. 
 

The second boss wasn’t awful, but she was definitely wag harder than her sister from the main game. 
 

that’s as far as Ive gotten so far. I also killed a the first giant fire thing you see in the dlc, and the blackgaol knight. 
 

now im banging my head off of a dragon world boss. I might not be powerful enough though.

[BloodyHell]

18 hours ago, Bacon said:

Second boss down. Lots of people talking about how hard she was and I killed her 5th try no mimic. Like, people act like her attacks were so hard to dodge but they weren't. You can actually just tank that boss's shit with a great shield lol. While I didn't beat the boss this way, I got the boss to 10% twice by using a spear and holding block and chugging heals when enough magic damage got thru. But I beat her with the dual swords in the end. I have the 5th level of the blessing too.

Agreed. She was harder than her sister, but so far the easiest boss in the DLC. Took me about the same amount of tries. 

[legend]

46 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Yeah I don’t understand why some gamers don’t want to use summons or ashes to defeat crazy difficult bosses. The stuff is available in the game to use for a reason. No shame in using it. 

 

The game design is ostensibly built around fun hard challenges that you have to overcome. If cheesing it is a solution people reach for, it implies that it has failed at making that part of the game actually fun and worthwhile.

 

I'm not sure pushing through something so hard you're not enjoying it is great, but if your alternative is eliminating one of the pillars of the game, I can see why people might not love doing that either.

 

A better solution might be difficulty modes so that someone can always choose something that gives a challenge *for them* without it being a binary "it's hard as fuck" or "it's trivial," but From seems allergic to adding difficulty modes.

[BloodyHell]

1 hour ago, Best said:

 

It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination. The internet lies. If it was easy to you, then you are absolutely an above average gamer. Simple as that. 

Yhe base game was pretty easy, you just seem to get frustrated too easily. You can’t expect to beat most bosses in a few tries. I bet it took me 50 to beat the lion boss.

 

im certainly not an above average player, you just need to be willing to try over and over. The sense of accomplishment when you win is incredible 

[Bacon]

I really don't think the base game is easy. Some parts are, some parts aren't. It's that yo-yo-ing shit I mentioned. When it comes to difficulty, this is the worst balanced game FROM as made to date. It's either a cakewalk or a kick in the balls. Never anything in the middle.

 

If anything, the DLC is more balanced than the base game because the level of difficulty is pretty consistent so far. I think the Blessing shit helps with that balance.

[Best]

19 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

im certainly not an above average player, you just need to be willing to try over and over. The sense of accomplishment when you win is incredible 

 

Um, if you're trying over and over that tells me the game is difficult. I think I can make my own mind up in if the game is too difficult for me. I've played MANY hours of it and it's extremely difficult. I hit a road block at level 88. 

[TheLeon]

Elden Ring is “easy” once you know what you’re doing. You can trivialize a lot of tricky boss fights by using the right strategy/weapon/item. It just takes a lot of perseverance, trial and error, and exploration to get to that point. Or you can use the extensive wiki. 
 

Like you can say “just max out your mimic tear to unlock ez mode”, but that’s not exactly a simple one step process. When I took down Mohg the other day, it only took a couple of tries, mostly because I had sought out a few specific items that I knew would make it a lot easier (and I ended up not even needing the shackles).

[BloodyHell]

7 minutes ago, Best said:

 

Um, if you're trying over and over that tells me the game is difficult. I think I can make my own mind up in if the game is too difficult for me. I've played MANY hours of it and it's extremely difficult. I hit a road block at level 88. 

But trying over and over is literally the point. 
 

what’s the most attempts you made at a boss before quitting?

[cusideabelincoln]

19 hours ago, Bacon said:

Second boss down. Lots of people talking about how hard she was and I killed her 5th try no mimic. Like, people act like her attacks were so hard to dodge but they weren't. You can actually just tank that boss's shit with a great shield lol. While I didn't beat the boss this way, I got the boss to 10% twice by using a spear and holding block and chugging heals when enough magic damage got thru. But I beat her with the dual swords in the end. I have the 5th level of the blessing too.

 

Took me about 7 attempts straight up, but the final one was skill mixed with some luck. It was an insanely greedy of me to go for the kill while I was one hit without any heals left and I don't know how I didn't die in the process, but it looked cool:

 

Minor spoilery boss fight (just the last 5 seconds of one):

 

Quote

 

 

Boss was actually pretty fair IMO. Didn't input read like many other bosses with gap-closers, and she didn't seem to have terribly complex combo attacks.

[Best]

24 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

But trying over and over is literally the point. 
 

what’s the most attempts you made at a boss before quitting?

 

I don't remember specific number of tries but definitely too many lol. I understand this game and why others love it. 

 

You're never going to convince me it's an easy game.